NEW YORK — The NBA has not yet hired a search firm to find the next WNBA commissioner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday, 11 days after Cathy Engelbert announced she will retire at the end of the year.
Silver spoke after the NBA Board of Governors met Monday and Tuesday in New York.
Adam Silver On The WNBA Commissioner Search
The next commissioner will have a view on how the league should be structured.
“In terms of the process, in fact, sort of my NBA/WNBA colleagues, maybe that’s part of the answer to your second part of your question, are in the process now of interviewing search firms,” Silver said. “And once we hire a search firm, we’ll begin the search in earnest. We’ve heard from several potential candidates. We’ve heard from others who are recommending candidates, and we are keeping that list right now at the office. And then, again, we will move forward on that process.”
Engelbert announced her retirement Sept. 4. She became the WNBA’s first commissioner in 2019, and she told The Associated Press she had been working on a succession plan that includes internal and external candidates. Engelbert turns 62 in November.
Basketball and player issues belong under the WNBA commissioner’s direct control, in Silver’s view.
“In terms of autonomy, it’s something I would say we’re constantly recalibrating,” Silver continued. “Having been involved now with the WNBA for 30 years, I think there are enormous benefits to running integrated operations, and there are also aspects of the league which I think are best run independently. As you know, Cathy was the first head of the WNBA to carry the commissioner title. I felt that was more than symbolism. Under Cathy, we fairly significantly increased the portion of our office who’s solely focused on WNBA.”
“I would say in issues particularly around basketball and player issues, I believe those should be independent of the NBA and should be under the direct control of the WNBA commissioner,” Silver added. “And at the end of the day, I think, yes, I oversee the greater organization, but Cathy had enormous independence in those areas and the player relations when it came to overseeing collective bargaining discussions, certainly when it comes to potential rule changes in the WNBA.”
“On the other hand, for example, when we did our media deals, our ability to address the market with year-round programming, I thought, added significant value to both leagues,” Silver noted. “And I think to our partners, both on media and then some of our marketing partners, coming to them and saying, we have both NBA programming and WNBA programming, it’s year-round, in many cases it reaches different demographics, is very attractive.”
“And there may come a time some years from now when it makes sense to have even more independence. I don’t know,” Silver detailed. “My view is now, and this is analogous to how many of the shared NBA/WNBA team organizations operate, they share certain infrastructure and in other cases it makes more sense to be independent. But I maybe say this a bit defensively, I don’t think it’s hampered the operation of the WNBA at all. I think the WNBA is by far and away the most successful women’s league operating right now by measure of viewership, by measure of ratings, by measure of franchise value, by measure of player pay now after the new collective bargaining agreement.”
The WNBA and its players reached a collective bargaining agreement this past spring that produced the league’s first million-dollar player salaries, the AP reported. In 2024, the league signed a media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal reportedly worth $2.2 billion over 11 years.
“And I’m sure as we bring in this new commissioner, that person will have a view too as to the appropriate operating structure of the league,” Silver continued. “So again, it’s an ongoing conversation, and I’ll say we also have crossover NBA/WNBA owners and then we also have WNBA-only owners, and so I think we found a way to make it work.”
“I’ve thought about it maybe analogous to ESPN, some members of that organization here,” Silver added. “There’s a portion of ESPN that’s not owned by Disney, but Disney owns the majority of ESPN. The CEO of ESPN reports into the CEO of Disney. I think that’s worked very well for the integrated company. There’s been discussions over the years, would ESPN be better off being an independent company and spinning off? And so far, presumably Disney and ESPN have made the decision over many decades of operating that they’re still better off as an integrated operation.”
“So that’s how we look at it,” Silver noted. “But again, I think at least for now, that the WNBA is the beneficiary of the decades of experience of people in the NBA. And I think also from a cost structure standpoint, not repeating certain core administrative functions separately for each league allows for cost savings and efficiency.”
The WNBA is growing to 18 teams by 2030. Golden State joined in 2025, and Toronto and Portland joined in 2026. Cleveland is scheduled to begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. The regular season expands from 44 games to 50 in 2027.
Adam Silver Congratulates Breanna Stewart And Team USA
Silver watched many of the FIBA Women’s World Cup games on TV from New York.
“Let me congratulate our USA women on having just won their fifth consecutive championship in Berlin,” Silver said. “Let me particularly single out Sue Bird, the managing director, Kara Lawson, the coach, and Breanna Stewart, who is both the captain of the team and the MVP. Just another wonderful competition, great for women’s basketball, but just all basketball. And it was a huge attraction in Berlin. Got an opportunity to watch many of the games on TV here. So, again, congratulations to our women on bringing home the gold yet once again.”
The United States beat France 97-79 on Sunday at Uber Arena for its 12th World Cup title. Breanna Stewart had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the final. She became the first player to win World Cup MVP twice, after first winning it in 2018.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers was one of seven players making her World Cup debut for the U.S. The Americans have won 36 straight World Cup games, dating to the 2006 semifinals.
Silver also noted that Larry Tanenbaum, who attended his last meeting as the Toronto Raptors governor and chairman of the NBA board, owns the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo. Miami Heat governor Micky Arison takes over as board chairman.
Engelbert’s retirement takes effect at the end of 2026.
